Fire-escape appliance.



PA IENTED AUG.4, 1903.

E. L. EVENS. FIRE ESCAPE APPLIANCE.

APPLICATION FILED 0012.17, 1002.

' no'monmh Inventor;

wimesses A omega via: uoflils versus co, PuowLn-m. wuummun, u; a.

Ilo. 735,484.

Iatented August 4, 1963 :PATENT OFF C 'EDWARD LUSCOMBE EVENS, OFMALVERN, SOUTH AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA.

FIRE-ESCAPE APPLIANCE.

srnormonzrron formingpart a Letters Patent No. 735,484, dated August 4,1903.

I Application filed October 17, 1902. Serial No. 127,634. (No model.)

King of Great Britain and Ireland, residing sist in raising or loweringthe latter.

at Clifton street, Malvern, in the State of South Australia,Commonwealth of Australia, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in and Connected with Fire-Escape Appliances; and I dohereby declare that the following is a full, clear,and exact defscription of the same.

ments in and connected withfire-escape apparatus and the like, andrefers more specif ically, first, to a cage of novel construction forthe accommodation of firemen and others, and, secondly, to apparatusused in combi nation therewith and arranged, as hereinafterspecified,for enabling the cage to be raised, lowered, and controlled,so that it maybe made accessible for rescue and other purbuilding.

My invention may also be applied to anal ogous purposes, such as thelanding of passengers from ships and for mining and quarryingrequirements. 1

In order to achieve the object of my invention, I provide a cage whichis characterized I attached to the base of the center pole. able hooksor shackles are attached at both top and bottom. At the bottom of thispole by a rigid vertical center pole, to which suit;

I construct a foot-rest or platform, and at a height of three feet, orthereabout, above the platform I place a hand-rail and an intermediatefoot-rest. The bottom portion of the cage maybe inclosed withwire-netting. Near the top of the pole I also arrange a horizontalcross-bar, which is likewise for use asa footrest or as a handhold.Various fittings in the form of rings or loops, ofmetal or leather, areadded for the accommodation and retention of fire hoses and otherappliances. At

or near the top of the building Ifconstruct af light overhangingtramwayor rail, the same being mounted upon or 'supportedby suitable.

overhangingbrackets. On the tramway I place a truck or traveling tackle,which is connected by means of wire rope to the top of the center poleof the cage in order to as- In addition to such wire rope auxiliaryropes are against the weather. My invention relates to certain improve:d

i ter understood, I will now proceed to describe added for the purposeof traversing the truck backward or forward along the tramway, such ropebeing placed over pulley wheels ar- Inorder that my invention may be thebetthe same by aid of the accompanying illustrative drawings, wherein-Figure 1 is a front elevation of a building,

showing the general arrangement of my invention as applied thereto. .ofthe cage, on a larger scale; Figs. .3 and 4.,

Fig. 2 is a detail side and end detail of portion of truck, showingalarm apparatus connected therewith. poses at almost any part of theexterior of a V In all figures similar letters of reference are used todenote similar or corresponding parts wherever they occur.

In this respect and referring first to Fig. 2., a is the vertical centerpole of the cage and is provided with hooks or shackles b and c at bothtopand bottom.

d is the foot-rest or platform,which is firmly 'e is a hand-rail orguard of any convenient shape, but preferably rectangular and oblong, asillustrated.

.f is a cross-bar which passes through the center pole below the levelof the hand-rail and may be usedeither as a foot-rest or a seat. Withoutconfining myself to any specific size .I prefer to make the center poleabout six to eight feet in height, and at adistance of about one footfrom its top I place an upper cross bar or bars g, which serve ashandholds', seats, or ladder-rungs, according to the positionassumed-bythe firemen or other occupants of th p lia e H 77. h areloops, preferably of metal, for the retention of fire-hoses,guide-ropes, or such other appliances as it may be found necessary toadd to the cage. In the smaller illustration of the cage I have shown aconvenient-shaped fender or screen i, placed around the appliance, thesame being intended to serve the purpose of a guard and also to as sistin deflecting the cage should it come into contactwith parapets or otherprojecting portions of the building in its descent.

j is the face of the building. In a suitable position, but preferablyabove the uppermost parapet, I arrange a series of strong brackets Thesemay be of anyconvenient design and are used for the purpose ofsupporting the tramway or rails l, the arrangement being such that thetraveling truck m, which is mounted thereon, is free to traverse thewhole length of the building without impediment. This tramway may beextended to the sides and back of the building, if so desired. The truckto be used may vary in design, but supports the pulley sheave or blockn.

0 is a chain or wire rope which when in operation is fastened to thevertical center pole of the cage, but when not in use is intended tohave its free ends joined together, so as to form an endless rope. Inorder that this rope may be readily accessible in cases of emergency andat the same time be protected from inclement weather, I provide an opendownpipe or cover 10 for its reception. q q are pulley-wheels mounted inbearings upon the upturned portion of the truck-rails Z, convenientlyplaced at the ends or sides of the building, and over which thetraverseropes 'r are passed, the said traverse-ropes being connectedwith the traveling truck m at one end. The opposite end, which is heldtaut by counterbalance-weights, is fastened to or accommodated in anyconvenient receptacle.

s s are rings or cleats which are securely fastened to the building forthe purpose of affording a purchase or grip to the chain or rppe o whenthe latter is to be operated.

At each end of the building and to an extension of the shafting whichcarries the pul- Icy-wheels q q, Figs. 3 and 4, I attach a screw end 25,which is preferably constructed on the Archimedean principle.

it is a nut which is designed to travel freely from the screw end and isweighted on one side, as illustrated, so that when the shaft isrotatedthe weighted portion has a tendency to prevent the nut fromrevolving in unison with the shaft and allows it to move horizontally inproportion to the pitch of the screw. The screw ends at opposite ends ofthe building are formed, respectively, with right and left handedthreads, so that whichever way the traverse ropes are hauled one of theweights will be detached.

vis a guide or receptacle placed beneath the free end of the screw t andin which the electric terminals 10 w are arranged, such termi-' 'nalsbeing connected with alarm-bells in various parts of the building (notshown in the drawings) and with alarm-signal apparatus at thefire-station.

The method of using the apparatus is as follows: In event of an outbreakof fire the chain or rope 0 is slipped from beneath its cover p, and oneend of it is attached to the upper being that one of the nuts utraverses along to the end of the extension, so that it falls 01f intothe guide or receptacle 0 and immediately makes contact with theelectric terminals to, thereby giving the alarm to the inmates of thebuilding and simultaneously effecting a communication with thefire-station. The mechanism may be put into operation before any othersteps are taken to use the escape.

It will readily be understood from reference to the drawings that thecombined appliance affords facilities for escape from almost every partof the building, while the general construction of the cage renders itsuitable for ladder or scaling purposes for obtaining access to and fromthe roof and other parts. The rings or cleats at the base of thestructure'enable a grip to be obtained for holding the hauling-rope andmay be provided with a simple or compound pulley-block and tackle.

In practice firemen sometimes arrange a pair of portable ladders at eachside of a burning building and connect them with a horizontal rope orcable, which is substantially at the level of the windows of afloor,'facilitating the escape of the occupants of that floor. upon sucha rope instead of upon the permanent track Z intended for it.

I find by experiment that the use of a rigid center pole arranged in themanner indicated in connection with the cage minimizes the oscillationand aflords considerable. comfort to the occupants.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my saidinvention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare thatwhat I claim is- 1. In a fire-escape, in combination, a truck adapted tobe moved transversely of abuilding, lines leading therefrom, pulleysover which said lines pass, said pulleys having threaded extensions,nuts carried thereby, and means whereby said nuts may close an electriccircuit.

2. In a fire-escape, in combination, a cage which may have a transversemovement, pulleys adapted to be moved when said cage moves, said pulleyshaving threaded axial extensions, nuts carried thereby which becomedisengaged by a continued movement of said pulleys, and meanswherebysaid nuts may close an electric circuit when disengaged.

3. In a'fir'e-escape, in combination, a mov- My truck 'm could bearranged to run able truck adapted to be moved transversely of abuilding, a cage therebelow, tackle apparatus supporting said cage,lines leading from said truck, pulleys arranged at the side of saidbuilding and over which said lines pass, and meanswhereby the rotationof said pulleys may close an electric circuit.

4. In a fire-escape, in combination, a track adapted to be disposedtransversely of a building, a truck mounted thereupon, lines connectedto said truck, pulleys arranged at the side of saidbuilding, threadedmembers adapted to be moved bythe rotation of the said pulleys, saidlines passing over said pulleys, and means whereby said threaded membersmay close an electric circuit.

5. In a fire-escape, in combination, a truck In witness whereof I havehereunto set' my hand in presenceof two witnesses.

EDWARD LUSOOMBE EVIENS.

Witnesses:

JOHN HUBERT OOOKE, CHARLES ACOURT BLOXAM.

